WASHINGTON, DC -- The House Oversight Committee announced today it will hold a hearing on Wednesday, January 16, 2008, to obtain additional information about the Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball, known as the "Mitchell Report."

Also invited to appear before the House Oversight Committee were former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, whose allegations were a central part of last month's Mitchell report on doping in baseball. Former All-Star second baseman Chuck Knoblauch also was asked to speak to the panel.

"It could be a circus with players, true," the committee's minority staff director, David Marin, said in a telephone interview. "But if you tailor it right and invite people who clearly have pertinent information about the substance of the report, then it's anything but a circus. It's substantive. That's what Democrats and Republicans have agreed to here."

A day earlier, the committee is to hear testimony from baseball commissioner Bud Selig, union leader Donald Fehr and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.

"The original hearing was called to examine the Mitchell recommendations and findings. The committee has decided to hold a second day of hearings for the very same reason -- to invite people with varying perspectives on the Mitchell report to shed further light on it," Marin said.

McNamee told Mitchell he had injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone during the 1998, 2000 and 2001 seasons. Clemens, in an interview to be broadcast by CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday, said McNamee injected him with vitamins and painkillers but not performance-enhancing drugs.

Pettitte admitted McNamee injected him with HGH twice while the pitcher was recovering from an injury.

Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, and he is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 8.

Although none of the people asked to testify under oath Jan. 16 had agreed to appear as of late Friday afternoon, the committee's announcement listed Clemens and others under the heading, "Witnesses will include."

Said Marin: "We always presume that invited witnesses will appear."

Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement: "We welcome Chairman Waxman and the Committee's interest in this very serious matter. Roger is willing to answer questions, including those posed to him while under oath. We hope to determine shortly if schedules and other commitments can accommodate the committee on that date."

An e-mail to McNamee's attorney and a phone call to Radomski's lawyer were not immediately returned.

The panel also convened a March 2005 hearing, when Mark McGwire refused to say whether he had used performance-enhancing drugs. Sammy Sosa said he had never knowingly used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Rafael Palmeiro denied using drugs but tested positive later that year for a steroid.

The leaders of the committee, California Democrat Henry Waxman and Virginia Republican Tom Davis, were among several members of the House and Senate who sponsored legislation in 2005, proposing to mandate stronger steroid testing and penalties for baseball and other U.S. professional sports leagues.

Another committee has scheduled a Jan. 23 hearing on the Mitchell report.

Their lawyers should insist that they not be sworn in or they won't speak.

If it's good enough for oil executives then it should be good enough for baseball players.

Yes but Clemens only purpose right now is to not look like a cheater and get into the Hall or Fame(first ballot)...He will be sworn in and if he refuses, the public will tear him apart...

Clemens is toast...The senate waited for clemens to tape his 60 minutes episode before they dropped the hammer...Clemens was one of those guys who everyone knew he was doing it and he rubbed it into everyone face by coming in and out of retirement...It became a joke...He truly thought he was better then everyone...Playing half a season and making more then just about everyone...

That alone pissed off a lot of players and management...Right now Clemens is in a no win situation...You can almost see exactly what is going to happen...He will basically deny ever really knowing under oath and then a few months will go by and other people will come forward to bury him...My guess is that is trainer does have some kind of tape/paper work etc...This should get interesting..

Yes but Clemens only purpose right now is to not look like a cheater and get into the Hall or Fame(first ballot)...He will be sworn in and if he refuses, the public will tear him apart...

Clemens is toast...The senate waited for clemens to tape his 60 minutes episode before they dropped the hammer...Clemens was one of those guys who everyone knew he was doing it and he rubbed it into everyone face by coming in and out of retirement...It became a joke...He truly thought he was better then everyone...Playing half a season and making more then just about everyone...

That alone pissed off a lot of players and management...Right now Clemens is in a no win situation...You can almost see exactly what is going to happen...He will basically deny ever really knowing under oath and then a few months will go by and other people will come forward to bury him...My guess is that is trainer does have some kind of tape/paper work etc...This should get interesting..

My guess is not: "Regardless of the state, it is almost always illegal to record a conversation to which you are not a party, do not have consent to tape, and could not naturally overhear.

Federal law and most state laws also make it illegal to disclose the contents of an illegally intercepted call or communication.

At least 24 states have laws outlawing certain uses of hidden cameras in private places, although many of the laws are specifically limited to attempts to record nudity. Also, many of the statutes concern unattended hidden cameras, not cameras hidden on a person engaged in a conversation. Journalists should be aware, however, that the audio portion of a videotape will be treated under the regular wiretapping laws in any state. And regardless of whether a state has a criminal law regarding cameras, undercover recording in a private place can prompt civil lawsuits for invasion of privacy."

Coming before Congress is stupid because it does nothing to the already tarnished records of these men. Even if Mac answered questions, he would be screwed. Sosa denied and he still has a reputation as a user. Even if Clemens denies it he is still labeled a liar so what does he gain from this? Like you said, nothing. Any paperwork this guy would have would be of him purchasing drugs, not Clemens.

The federal government has been its *** handed to it. Bonds, John Edwards, and now Clemens.

Roger Clemens found not guilty

ESPN.com news services | June 19, 2012

WASHINGTON -- Roger Clemens was acquitted Monday on all charges that he obstructed and lied to Congress in denying he used performance-enhancing drugs to extend his long career as one of the greatest and most-decorated pitchers in baseball history.

Fierce on the pitching mound in his playing days, Clemens was quietly emotional after the verdict was announced. "I'm very thankful," he said, choking up as he spoke. "It's been a hard five years," said the pitcher, who was retried after an earlier prosecution ended in a mistrial.

This case was lengthy, but the deliberations were relatively brief. Jurors returned their verdict after less than 10 hours over several days. The outcome ended a 10-week trial that capped the government's investigation of the pitcher known as "The Rocket" for the fastball that he retained into his 40s. He won seven Cy Young Awards, emblematic of the league's best pitcher each year in a 24-year career with the Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays and Astros.

The verdict was the latest blow to the government's legal pursuit of athletes accused of illicit drug use.

A seven-year investigation into home run king Barry Bonds yielded a guilty verdict on only one count of obstruction of justice in a San Francisco court last year, with the jury deadlocked on whether Bonds lied to a grand jury when he denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs.

A two-year, multi-continent investigation of cyclist Lance Armstrong was recently closed with no charges brought, though the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency filed formal accusations last week that could strip the seven-time Tour de France winner of his victories in that storied race. Armstrong denies any doping.

In a non-drug-related case, the Clemens outcome also comes on the heels of the Department of Justice's failure to gain a conviction in the high-profile corruption trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards

Late Monday, as the jury foreman read the acquittal on the final count, Clemens bit his lower lip and rubbed a tear from his eye.

Clemens, family members and his lawyers took turns exchanging hugs. At one point, Clemens and his four sons gathered in the middle of the courtroom, arms interlocked like football players in a huddle, and sobbing could be heard. Debbie Clemens dabbed her husband's eyes with a tissue.

Accused of cheating to achieve and extend his success -- and then facing felony charges that he lied about it -- Clemens declared outside the courthouse, "I put a lot of hard work into that career."

His chief lawyer, Rusty Hardin, walked up to a bank of microphones and exclaimed: "Wow!"

Hardin said Clemens had to hustle to get to court in time to hear the verdict. "All of us had told Roger there wouldn't be a verdict for two, three or four days, so he was actually working out with his sons almost at the Washington Monument when he got the call that there was a verdict."

Prosecutors declined to comment as they left the courthouse. But the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a written statement, "The jury has spoken in this matter, and we thank them for their service. We respect the judicial process and the jury's verdict."

Clemens, 49, was charged with two counts of perjury, three counts of making false statements and one count of obstructing Congress when he testified at a deposition and at a nationally televised hearing in February 2008. The charges centered on his repeated denials that he used steroids and human growth hormone during a 24-year career that produced 354 victories.

The first attempt to try Clemens last year ended in a mistrial when prosecutors played a snippet of video evidence that had previously been ruled inadmissible.

Still, Monday's verdict is unlikely to settle the matter in sports circles as to whether Clemens cheated in the latter stages of a remarkable career that extended into a period in which performance-enhancing drug use in baseball was thought to be prevalent. Clemens himself told Congress at the 2008 hearing that "no matter what we discuss here today, I'm never going to have my name restored."

A crucial barometer comes this fall, when Clemens' name appears on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. His statistics would normally make him a shoo-in for baseball's greatest honor, but voters have been reluctant to induct premier players -- such as Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro -- whose careers were tainted by allegations of drug use.

Clemens capped his career with age-defying performances. He went 18-4 and won his seventh Cy Young Award at the age of 41, and the next year posted a career-best 1.87 ERA. His 4,672 strikeouts ranked third in baseball history.

The government's case relied heavily on the testimony of Clemens' longtime strength coach, Brian McNamee, who testified he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and with HGH in 2000. McNamee produced a needle and other materials he said were from a steroids injection of Clemens in 2001, items that McNamee said he stored in and around a Miller Lite beer can inside a FedEx box for some six years.

But McNamee was the only person to claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens using steroids and HGH, and even prosecutors conceded their star witness was a "flawed man." Clemens' lawyers relentlessly attacked McNamee's credibility and integrity. They pointed out that his story had changed over the years and implied that he conjured up the allegations against Clemens to placate federal investigators.

Some items associated with the beer can were found to have Clemens' DNA and steroids, but the defense called the evidence "garbage" and claimed it had been contaminated or manipulated by McNamee.

Other evidence offered tenuous links between Clemens and performance-enhancing drugs. Former teammate Andy Pettitte recalled a conversation in which Clemens supposedly admitted using HGH, but Pettitte said under cross-examination that there was a "50-50" chance that he had misheard.

Convicted drug dealer Kirk Radomski testified that he supplied McNamee with HGH for a starting pitcher and even sent a shipment to Clemens' house under McNamee's name, but Radomski had no way of knowing if any of the HGH was specifically used on Clemens. The pitcher's wife, Debbie, admitted receiving an HGH shot from McNamee, but she and McNamee differed over when the injection occurred and whether Clemens was present.

One juror said the panel was troubled by the prosecution's reliance on McNamee.

"The defense showed that McNamee was a liar and once that was done, nothing that he said could hold up," juror Joyce Robinson-Paul told the New York Daily News.

"We felt that when McNamee got angry at Roger Clemens, that he was going for his throat. He even said something like he was going to see Roger Clemens in an orange (prison) suit.

"This after Clemens let him live in his house, after he did everything for him. We felt there was something here, it was vengeance probably," she told the newspaper.

Clemens' lawyers contended that the pitcher's success resulted from a second-to-none work ethic and an intense workout regimen dating to his high school days. They said that Clemens was indeed injected by McNamee -- but that the needles contained the vitamin B12 and the anesthetic lidocaine and not performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens was invited to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in 2008 after he publicly denied accusations made in the Mitchell Report on drugs in baseball that he had used steroids and HGH. He first appeared at a congressional deposition, where he said: "I never used steroids. Never performance-enhancing steroids." He made a similarly categorical denial at a hearing about a week later, appearing alongside McNamee, who stuck to his story.

Soon after, committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Clemens had lied under oath. In 2010, a grand jury indicted him on the six counts. Clemens lawyer Hardin revealed at the time that federal prosecutors made Clemens a plea offer but the former pitcher rejected it.

Both Waxman and Davis accepted the verdict while defending their decision to send the case to the Justice Department.

"The committee referred Mr. Clemens to the Justice Department because we had significant doubts about the truthfulness of his testimony in 2008," Waxman said. "The decision whether Mr. Clemens committed perjury is a decision the jury had to make and I respect its decision."

Davis said, "I think he's gone through enough. We did the appropriate thing in referring it over to Justice. But hopefully this will put it behind him. He's a good citizen."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.Comment on this story